Meatless Monday and PantryCleanerOuter - 3 Bean Soup

This post is in honor of my friend Cindy over at The reNOUNed Nest


Every few weeks, I go through the need to organize my pantry. There are a few reasons.

- my dear husband hates when I live at the grocery store every day of the week. If I know what I have, it could keep me from going (so I keep telling myself)

- I forget all the great ingredients I have which would be key to making a quick, easy meal.

- My pantry is the whole reason I like to cook - use what I have on hand for ease and for delicious meals.

That said, I bring you today a Meatless Monday soup compliments of my pantry.


1 can of each of black, garbanzo and cannellini beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can of stewed tomatoes (take a knife and kind of chop inside the can or use diced canned tomatoes)
1 small can of diced green chilies
½ cup of corn
2 cups of veggie broth (feel free to use chicken broth or beef)
1 TBS chili powder
1 tsp cumin
Handful of tortilla chips, crushed and tossed in

Put everything in a crockpot and simmer on low for 8 hours or high for 5.

Yum!

My food is good, my pictures stink!

Chicken Tortilla Soup in honor of my Knife Skills Class at Central Market

I feel really crappy about not posting anything in a month. Really crappy. The last post was the fruit salad that I made before leaving on a week long business/personal trip to the East coast. I came home Feb 13th and its been non stop ever since. Things are starting to normalize a little. I was able to go to a Central Market Cooking School class Monday night and the topic was "Knife Skills" and of course, taught by non other than chef Dean Liesenfelt.

During the class we learned the anatomy (snicker) of a knife, how to hold said anatomy in our hands (giggle) and how to make sweet knife love with our vegetables, herbs and fruit.

We cut, sliced and diced avacados, cilantro, onions, tomatos, carrots, celery, bell peppers, romaine and oranges. We tossed them together in to a lovely, delicious, fantastic, stud muffin, Fabio bowl of scrumptious guacamole; a magnificent, warming and comforting pot of chicken tortilla soup; a rainbow of goodness of a salad with Dean's "on hand refrigerator ingredients" dressing and a juicy orange for dessert.

So long story short - I made chicken tortilla soup today.

6 cups of chicken stock (I had homemade in the freezer) - if you guys use canned, scale back the salt and taste taste taste before you had too much.

1 1/2 cups of chicken peices (I had leftover roast chicken in the fridge)

3 fresh button mushrooms, stems removed - sliced

10 baby carrots, sliced in to round pieces

1/4 of a medium onion diced

1 cup of tortilla chips, hand crushed and tossed in to the broth (before you add salt below - taste first - chips = salt!)
about 1 TBSP of chili powder
about 1 TBSP of cumin
1/2 - 1 tsp of granulated garlic
1-2 tsp of salt (see above)
1 cup of fresh spinach
2 TBSP chopped cilantro

Simmer and taste - adjust seasoning as necessary. Enjoy!

Remedy for anything! Pork and Shrimp Won Ton Soup

Family is under the weather and last night hubby picked up Pei Wei and brought me some Won Ton soup. Delicious and warming. I was inspired to try the art of wontons. Unfortunately, hubby is so sick right now that he can't enjoy them. :( It was really easy actually. Not as hard as I thought it was going to be once I got the art of forming the won tons down. Honestly, they aren't *that* fattening unless you are avoiding carbs. The wrappers are carbs obviously.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions, plus 3 tablespoons finely chopped
10 cups canned low sodium chicken broth (I used my homemade broth)
1/2 pound ground pork
10 medium shrimp (already steamed at albertons), chopped
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
About 30 wonton wrappers, thawed if frozen

Directions
In a large saucepan or soup pot heat the oil over medium high heat until hot. Add 1 tablespoon of the garlic and 1 tablespoon of the ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the 1/4 cup of sliced scallions and the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low so that the broth just simmers. Allow broth to simmer for at least 20 to 30 minutes while the wontons are being assembled.

In a small mixing bowl combine the remaining teaspoon of minced garlic, remaining tablespoon of chopped ginger, 3 tablespoons of finely chopped scallions, the pork, egg yolk, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil and crushed red pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined.

Working on a flat work surface, lay out a few of the wontons. (Keep remaining wonton wrappers covered with plastic wrap.) Fill a small bowl partially with cool water and set aside. Using a teaspoon measure, place a heaping teaspoonful of the meat filling in the center of each wonton. Using your fingers, lightly wet the edges of the wonton. Bring 2 opposite corners of the wonton together to form a triangle and enclose the filling, pressing edges firmly around the mound of filling to eliminate any air pockets and seal. Moisten opposite corners of the long side. Curl moistened corners toward each other, overlapping one on top of the other, and press the edges together to seal. You should now have a rounded stuffed wonton with a triangle poking up at the top. Assemble the remaining wontons in the same manner. When the wontons are all assembled, set aside.

Add the sliced bok choy, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots to the broth and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Using your hands or a slotted spoon, gently add the prepared wontons to the simmering broth. Increase the heat slightly so that the broth returns to a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally (very gently), until the wontons float and the pork filling is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately

REMEDY: Too many veggies, not enough eaters (Veggie broth)

I accomplished two things today. A great flavorful veggie broth and a picture I can live with. I had not done veggie broth before and I was inspired by Cafe Fernando and his wonderful photos and use of veggies to make a broth. I followed his tips and preferences for making a fat free broth by not browning the vegetables in oil first. I just cut them up in a rustic manner meaning since I wasn't presenting these on a plate or dish, they don't need to be pretty but they do need to be cut. Sorry for the lack of exact quantities but frankly, it doesn't really need to be exact.

3/4 lb baby carrots, chopped (I had two partial bags that I combined. One was a little dried but nevertheless, once they were submerged in the water they came alive again).
4 stalks of celery with ends sliced off and chopped
half of an onion chopped in to large peices
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 TBSP chopped garlic
1 TBSP kosher salt
generous amount of black pepper
2 bay leaves
1 container of organic mushroom broth


Throw it all in a stock pot with about 8-10 cups of water. Bring to a boil then let simmer for at least an hour. If you like a richer broth, let it reduce more. I would add salt and pepper minimally until you strain and give it a taste first. I wanted mine to be a little more rich so I went to Sprouts and bought a container of organic mushroom broth and added to it AFTER I strained it. I have a good strainer for broths that catches all the large peieces of pepper and garlic leaving me with a nice clear broth. Discard the veggies or find something to do with them. I guess you could puree them and use them for a veggie gravey. Since I'm not a vegetarian (yet), I got lazy and *gasp* threw them out. I know. I suck. Extremely disappointed in myself.

Bring broth to room temperature. Divide in to 1 or 2 cup storage containers or place in ice cube trays. Read Cafe Fernandos pointers. They are really awesome. (The link is at the top).

Italian Turkey Sausage Soup

1 lb of Italian turkey sausage
1 1/2 cups of whole wheat pasta (uncooked)
1 can of fire roasted tomatoes (I used Hun'ts)
1 zucchini quartered and sliced
4 cups of chicken broth
1/2 cup of chopped onion
1 tsp chopped garlic.

Heat Sausage until thoroughly cooked, stirring and breaking up until its done - drain most but not all liquid. Throw in onion and garlic until onion is clear. Throw in the rest of the ingredients and cook thoroughly until noodles are done or simmer for as long as you like. Use a lower heat to cook through as the wheat pasta may disintegrate.

Eat =)